[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3359 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3359

 To increase awareness of and research on autoimmune diseases, such as 
lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 21, 2003

Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island (for himself and Mr. Upton) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To increase awareness of and research on autoimmune diseases, such as 
lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prevention, Awareness, and Research 
Auto-Immune Disease Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that at least 
        1.5 million Americans have a form of lupus, 9 out of 10 of 
        these Americans are women, and 80 percent of all newly 
        diagnosed cases of lupus are among women of childbearing age.
            (2) According to a Lupus Foundation of America survey, more 
        than half of the people with lupus suffered for 4 or more years 
        and visited 3 or more doctors before obtaining a diagnosis of 
        lupus.
            (3) Early diagnosis of and commencement of treatment for 
        lupus can prevent or reduce serious organ damage, disability, 
        and death.
            (4) About 1 out of 5 lupus sufferers receives disability 
        payments, costing the Government several billion dollars each 
        year for social security disability benefits, lost taxes, and 
        medical care provided through Medicare and Medicaid.
            (5) The average annual cost of medical treatment for an 
        individual with lupus is $6,000 to $10,000; for some people, 
        medical costs may exceed several thousand dollars every month.
            (6) Despite the prevalence of lupus, public awareness and 
        understanding of lupus remains low. According to a Lupus 
        Foundation of America survey, only 1 out of 5 Americans can 
        provide even basic information about lupus.
            (7) Awareness of lupus is lowest among adults ages 18 to 
        34, the age group most likely to develop symptoms of lupus.
            (8) Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and often disabling 
        disease of the central nervous system which often first appears 
        in people who are 20 to 50 years of age, with lifelong physical 
        and emotional effects.
            (9) Multiple sclerosis is twice as common in women as in 
        men.
            (10) An estimated 250,000 to 400,000 individuals have 
        multiple sclerosis nationally.
            (11) The average annual cost of multiple sclerosis to each 
        affected individual is approximately $50,000, and the total 
        cost can exceed $3,000,000 over an individual's lifetime.
            (12) The annual cost of treating all people who suffer from 
        multiple sclerosis in the United States is approximately 
        $20,000,000,000.
            (13) Symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be mild (such as 
        numbness in the limbs) or severe (such as paralysis or loss of 
        vision).
            (14) The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of 
        multiple sclerosis in any one individual cannot yet be 
        predicted.
            (15) Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the 
        United States.
            (16) Among the 2,100,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis 
        in the United States, women outnumber men 3 to 1.
            (17) The total direct costs of rheumatoid arthritis, 
        including money spent on treatments, hospitalizations, 
        medications, transportation, and specialist aids, is 
        approximately $1,200,000,000 each year.
            (18) The average medical care expenditures over the course 
        of a rheumatoid arthritis patient's lifetime is $225,000 to 
        $370,000.
            (19) Fibromyalgia is believed to affect approximately 
        3,700,000 people (approximately 2 percent of the United States 
        population) and occurs more commonly in women than men.
            (20) The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, but may be 
        triggered by stress, trauma, or possibly an infectious agent in 
        susceptible people.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to increase awareness 
of autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid 
arthritis, and fibromyalgia, in order to provide to the public a more 
complete understanding of these diseases, which affect 5 to 10 percent 
of the people in the United States.
    (b) Amendments.--Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 241 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by moving section 317R so that such section follows 
        section 317Q; and
            (2) by inserting after section 317R (as so moved) the 
        following:
    ``Sec. 317S. (a) Grants to Increase Awareness of Autoimmune 
Diseases.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, shall award grants to eligible 
entities to conduct public and professional awareness activities 
regarding autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, 
rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--In conducting public and professional 
awareness activities with a grant under this section, an eligible 
entity may do any of the following:
            ``(1) Promote increased awareness of early intervention and 
        treatment so as to significantly improve the quality of life 
        for people with autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple 
        sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
            ``(2) Target minority communities that may be underserved 
        or disproportionately affected by autoimmune diseases, such as 
        lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and 
        fibromyalgia.
            ``(3) Target women (who are disproportionately affected by 
        autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, 
        rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia) so as to help reduce 
        the amount of time taken for correct diagnosis of such 
        diseases, which often takes more than 1 year.
    ``(c) Eligible Entity.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`eligible entity' means a nonprofit organization, a consumer group, an 
institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), a Federal, State, or 
local governmental agency, or a media organization.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $18,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2004 and 2005.''.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR EDUCATION ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTOIMMUNE 
              DISEASES AND MENTAL ILLNESSES.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.), 
as amended by section 3 of this Act, is amended by inserting after 
section 317S the following:
    ``Sec. 317T. (a) Grants for Education on Relationship Between 
Autoimmune Diseases and Mental Illnesses.--The Secretary, acting 
through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, shall award grants to eligible entities for the 
education of health care providers on potential links between 
autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid 
arthritis, and fibromyalgia, and cognitive and mood disorders, such as 
depression.
    ``(b) Eligible Entity.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`eligible entity' means a nonprofit organization, a consumer group, an 
institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), a Federal, State, or 
local governmental agency, or a media organization.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2004 and 2005.''.

SEC. 5. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM REGARDING PHYSICIAN RESEARCH ON 
              AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES.

    Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second section 487F as section 
        487G; and
            (2) by inserting after section 487G (as so redesignated) 
        the following:

``SEC. 487H. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM REGARDING PHYSICIAN RESEARCH ON 
              AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES.

    ``(a) Establishment.--To the extent and in the amounts provided in 
advance in appropriations Acts, the Secretary, acting through the 
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
shall establish a program to enter into contracts with qualified 
physicians under which such qualified physicians agree to conduct 
research for a period of at least 3 years regarding autoimmune 
diseases, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and 
fibromyalgia, in consideration of the Federal Government agreeing to 
repay, for each year of service conducting such research, not more than 
$35,000 of the principal and interest of the educational loans of such 
qualified physicians.
    ``(b) Application of Provisions.--Except as inconsistent with this 
section, the provisions of sections 338B, 338C, and 338E shall apply to 
the program established under this section to the same extent and in 
the same manner as such provisions apply to the National Health Service 
Corps Loan Repayment Program established in subpart III of part D of 
title III.
    ``(c) Qualified Physician.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`qualified physician' means any individual who has received, or will 
have received by the time of the research to be conducted under this 
section, a degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent and is 
licensed to practice medicine in the United States.
    ``(d) Funding.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purpose of 
        carrying out this section, there are authorized to be 
        appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal 
        year.
            ``(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated for carrying out 
        this section shall remain available until the expiration of the 
        second fiscal year beginning after the fiscal year for which 
        the amounts were made available.''.
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